[SimonPStevens]

On the surface the statements seems to make sense and the arguments are well put across, but unless someone actually A/B tests it and proves that it makes a difference to readership, or conversions (or whatever your goal is) then it's currently just unsubstantiated theory.

[patio11]

5 points of karma says null result, but I'll have at least one anecdotal data point for you in a few days.

[SimonPStevens]

Awesome. I'd be interested to see results. Email me if you get any data your happy to share (details in my profile).

[ekanes]

Thanks. Please post results to HN, we'd love to see 'em!

[rlander]

One little known tip that I've been using for years to reduce bounce rates is to increase the text size by a few pixels.

I've successfully reduced the bounce rates on a few sites with that hack alone. On others it made little difference. I guess the older the audience, the more pronounced the effect.

[pbhjpbhj]

>I guess the older the audience, the more pronounced the effect. //

Was this a tested hypothesis or is it literally a guess?

[rlander]

Literally a guess. I've worked with very few sites that target older consumers, so my data points are limited, but in one of these the bounce rate dropped by more than 20% (home decor industry).

Unlike more recent experimentations, I did not conduct a formal AB/multivariate test, but the font size had been the only internal change at the time. Also, I have no idea whether these lower bounce rates translated into higher revenue.

Also, all of the sites mentioned above were female-oriented.